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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28529577">Encounter</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshinehq/pseuds/sunshinehq'>sunshinehq</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Tales From The SMP, Time Travel, Time Traveler!Karl, characters from the Town That Went Mad are mentioned slightly, i wrote this at 2 am, immortal!dream</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:27:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,876</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28529577</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshinehq/pseuds/sunshinehq</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when Karl travels back in time to the Village That Went Mad and finds a familiar face?</p>
<p>AKA a short fic about Time Traveler!Karl meeting Immortal!Dream in the past. </p>
<p>Based on Karl's second Tales From the SMP stream- The Village That Went Mad! Includes spoilers about that stream :D</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Clay | Dream &amp; Karl Jacobs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>519</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Encounter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>This wasn’t the first time Karl was time traveling but it seemed like he could never get used to the feeling. Force pushed him in all directions at once and at the same time he felt like he was being split in half and rearranged. He always closed his eyes as the world around him spun away into a new form. </p>
<p>After a second, he opened his eyes again. He could see the small town in the valley beneath him. He had read about it in the SMP’s archives. He knew this was it. The Village that Went Mad. That’s what they called it. According to the story, the village was a peaceful community until two of the villagers turned vengeful and began a murder spree. While trying to figure out who the murderers were, the villagers turned on each other and destroyed their own town. </p>
<p>It was a sad story. This SMP seemed to have many sad stories. Hundreds of tragedies and disasters filled the pages of the books he flipped through in the library. A normal person wouldn't want to experience these types of things but Karl couldn't stop his curiosity from taking over.</p>
<p>Karl had a gift of time travel. He was born with it. Luckily, he had the appearance of a regular human and was able to hide his power easily. His control over it was the result of lots of practice and many accidental trips to his 4th birthday party. Even in his current life, in what he assumed was the present, only some of his very close friends knew about his gift. So when he slipped into the library for some “reading”, they knew what he was up to.</p>
<p>So, now, he had left the present in the library to visit the Mad Town of the past. As he approached the town, he felt a sense of dread. He knew what happened but there was one part of the story that unnerved him more than the rest.</p>
<p>The village people noted that a strange man with many talents called Cornelius the Wise arrived only a few days before the murders began. They also noted that he was the very first to die.</p>
<p>The worst part was the description of him. Tha mayor had written in his diary that Cornelius wore a green cloak and had a white mask.</p>
<p>It was Dream.</p>
<p>Karl knew it had to be Dream. There was absolutely no way it couldn't have been Dream. The white mask with a smile on it? The green clothes? The random appearance in town? The description matched the secretive man of the present too well.</p>
<p>Despite traveling to other past events, Karl had never seen Dream in them before. He wondered how long Dream had been in this land. Did Karl narrowly miss Dream in his past travels? Had Dream already seen Karl in the past and know him? </p>
<p>Karl dreaded seeing his future…. friend? That wasn't quite the right word and he wasn't sure if this relationship began in the future or the past. Conflicting ideas of Dream filled his head. He had to see what happened in the town. He had to see the truth for himself. He had to see the town.</p>
<p>Karl walked through the forest into the town square. A fountain held still water and Karl could see his reflection. Moonlight lit the town completely and a fire slowly burned out at the nearby pit. Karl hoped he had traveled to the right night and he quickly slipped into the shadows of the town, hoping no one would notice his presence until he made sure he was correct.</p>
<p>“SHRIMPY!” </p>
<p>“GO AWAY WENCH!”</p>
<p>A woman was kicked out of one of the houses and a door slammed shut. </p>
<p>“My work is never appreciated around here! Helga does so much for you!” She shouted at a wooden door. </p>
<p>“Go to sleep!” A man yelled from another house.</p>
<p>Another door popped open and a man with a bushy moustache stuck his head out. “Helga, please come inside. It's very late.”</p>
<p>“Oh! So now my husband wants me with him!” Helga grumbled and stepped inside. The door closed.</p>
<p>Karl assumed the man with the bushy mustache was the mayor as he wrote about his- well, in his words- “whore wife”.</p>
<p>Karl took out his notebook. He quickly took a lantern down from a hook on one of the houses and began to write. He felt a need to tell the true story of this town, of the land’s past. He had the gift to see it, so why shouldn't he share it?</p>
<p>“I think your handwriting is very neat.”</p>
<p>Karl jumped. The book and pen fell to the floor. The man behind him leaned down and lifted the pen.</p>
<p>“Hm, now what is this?” He clicked the pen. It was a ballpoint pen. “I don't think I’ve seen one of these before, Time Traveler.”</p>
<p>Karl looked up from the ground and met the green eyes of a man he knew. His mask hung in his hand. The hood of his green cloak was pulled back. He wanted Karl to see his face clearly. He wanted Karl to recognize him. He wanted Karl to know.</p>
<p>“Hello, Dream.”</p>
<p>“Hello… you.”</p>
<p>Karl stared at the other man. Dream recognized him, Karl could tell. He must have seen one of Karl’s travels to an earlier time in the SMP’s history but he didn’t know Karl’s name. They had not spoken yet in Dream’s time.</p>
<p>“I’m Karl. I know you, well, actually, a future you. A future version of you. But in my present. So its not present you because present you is now but it's my present you-”</p>
<p>“Time is irrelevant to me, Karl,” Dream said his name like it tasted bad. “You obviously know me. No one in this town knows my real name but you do.” He paused and smiled.</p>
<p>“I’ve seen you before.”</p>
<p>Karl listened. He would write this down later. For now, he just wanted to know. What happened to Dream? </p>
<p>“I’ve seen a strange boy in purple lurking around while I’m trying to do important business. You know, the first time I saw you, I just thought I could kill you, but you were gone too soon. Then, you popped up again twenty years later. I thought I was hallucinating!” Dream paced around in the grass. His voice was light, like he was speaking to an old friend.</p>
<p>“But you… you aren't like me. I know you must be one of those mythical Time Travelers. The dumb people in towns like these, they believe all those myths. The legends. If only they knew how true they were.” </p>
<p>Dream glanced at Karl, who was trying to process all of this information and remember it so he could write it down afterwards. Dream knew who he was. Not just who he was, but what he was. Karl hadn’t told present Dream about his gift but past Dream knows. So, that must mean-</p>
<p>“Well, if you are just here to watch again, feel free to stay. The show is about to start.” Dream smiled and placed his mask back on. A sinister smile covering a mirror image underneath. </p>
<p>Dream left Karl as he walked back to a house. As he opened the door, he turned and gave Karl one last long look. He raised a finger to his fake mouth and Karl could just barely hear the “shhh” whispered into the night.</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>Karl decided to save his energy and simply slept in the forest. He would need all of his energy to travel back to his present after he watched the town. </p>
<p>He woke up in the morning to a scream. </p>
<p>“Quick! Someone help! Please!” A man in overalls yelled. His neighbor, who seemed to be a young child living alone, opened their door and stared in shock. </p>
<p>A body was lying next to the fountain in the town square. The stomach had a large stab wound and blood spilled into a puddle on the ground.</p>
<p>“Someone get the Doctor!” The man in the overalls yelled again. He held the young child who began to cry. </p>
<p>The doctor quickly arrived from his house and began to check for signs of life.</p>
<p>“He has no pulse.” The doctor announced.</p>
<p>Karl almost laughed. Of course, he had no pulse. What type of immortal godlike being would have a pulse? He watched as they lifted Dream’s very alive body and brought him into the forest. </p>
<p>As the villagers returned to the town, the mayor called for a meeting and Karl could see the anxiety beginning to spread. Whispers and murmurs began to fill the air. The silence turned into shouting and the shouting turned into violence as the mayor suggested they kill the murderer once they were found. The villagers yelled over each other, trying to explain their alibis and save themselves from their fate. Karl knew how this would end. </p>
<p>On this night, they would kill their first suspect, a man nicknamed “Corpse” with strange catlike features. The next night, the orphan child with a strong attachment to Corpse would be killed. The mayor’s journal stopped after that night, so it could only be presumed that he died the following day, leaving the town with no leader and no structure. All that was left of the village was madness and a desire for more blood to be spilled. </p>
<p>Karl felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up from his journal to find Dream, completely unharmed. He wiped the fake blood off his cloak. The blood smelled like berries.</p>
<p>“So, what did you think?”</p>
<p>“I think you caused one of the biggest tragedies our land has known because of what? boredom? A desire for suffering? ” Karl asked, genuine curiosity taking over him.</p>
<p>“Honestly, it's hard to tell these days,” Dream shrugged, completely indifferent. “Sometimes I just need to do something. So, I did this.”</p>
<p>“Do you realize what happens now Dream? Because I do know,” Karl looked straight at Dream. “All of these people, these real people, will lose their lives. They aren't like us. They don't come back or slip away into a different time. They disappear forever, Dream.”</p>
<p>“Well, maybe they disappear but I think I know someone who wants this town to be remembered instead of forgotten,” Dream gestured to Karl’s journal. </p>
<p>“I always see you walking around with that. Writing. All of the time. Yet, you never get involved in the action yourself,” Dream shook his head. “I may not understand human life but I think you do. So, consider this encounter a favor. I’ve given you a story, Karl. Will you tell it?”</p>
<p>Karl stepped back and fell into the chair of the library. He didn't mean to travel so quickly and his hands were shaking. The journal and pen fell out of them onto the oak table in front of him. They landed on the copy of the mayor’s journal. </p>
<p>Karl took a deep breath and realized how much energy that jump took from him. He slowly rose from the chair and began to gather his materials.</p>
<p>“Hello Karl.”</p>
<p>Karl turned, knowing who would be standing in the doorway.</p>
<p>“I think it's time to tell a story.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello I wrote this instead of sleeping last night because I am obsessed with the concept of Karl running into Immortal God Dream at random times in history and forming a sort-of friendship with him but they have very different outlooks on life so they don't quite view each other as friends but they can benefit from each other since Karl just wants to understand the history of the land and doesn't interfere with Dream's plans and Dream's story gets told because he's a self-centered bitch.</p>
<p>Its such a cool concept.</p>
<p>Anyways I hope you liked this short fic :D</p></blockquote></div></div>
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